HAKUOUKI: DREAMING REALITY
by Eruza Quetzal18
Summary: what if accepting a simple gift turns ur life upside down? you drool seeing your fav characters in tv, but when they come in front of u?. even before you realize, you get dragged into their mess. nightmares, angst and romance... a sweet mixture of surreal life. did i mention incarnated samurais from 19th century?
1. PROLOGUE

**PROLOGUE**

All was well in my life. I was blessed with wealth, understanding parents, perfect friends, caring brother, cozy environment, in one word my life was perfect. Note the grammar I said 'was'. My life went smoothly like a boat ride until abruptly it sunk like titanic. Yeah. I was met with a tragedy and in that tragedy I lost my parents.

I was swimming in sorrow , grief and self-pity . but that was two years back. At that time my only life boat were my brother and my friends- aria and diya. My best friends helped me to cope with my sorrow. Want to know how? We watched anime. Yeah. Sounds lame. But I feel thankful for that.

Hakuoki, the anime we watched. That changed my life to 360 degrees. It not only helped me cope up, but helped me to build myself a safe future. But then again, not everything goes how we expect it right?.

That's how I feel now.

It all started when aria saw the writing challenge- Lit For Life, in our university notice-board. But that was not all, my troubles started the day when I won the first round and told to write a novel within 30 days.

Only if I had not joined the competition, only if I had not missed my bus-stop, only if had not gone into that weird shop, only if I had not bought that laptop. Only if….

Only if I had not reconstructed hakuoki in that laptop…

But it was too late. I realized.


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

"aria! Come out already! We are going to be late!" the schrill scream of my best friend Diya Tenura echoed throughout the house .

I laughed at her expression as she came fuming into the living room.

"you are going to get that expression stick to your face" I chided as I put on my sneakers.

"which I would entirely blame on that idiot."

Diya huffed as she adjusted her bag.

Myself and my other two friends, Aria Mizaki and Diya Tenura lived in an individual house that was sort of near our university in comparison to our homes that were miles away.

Well, I didn't tell my name. did I?

I am Nagira Arisuna, second eldest to the other two. Aria is the eldest with mature, pretty face having reddish blond hair that reached till her mid-back and teal eyes. Diya is four months younger than me, with cute, fair face having long rich brown hair that she kept braided over her left shoulder and lilac eyes.

We have known each other since we remember and each of our families were good friends.

The sound of footsteps alerted that aria was finally ready and after few minutes we were walking down the road.

"hey, aren't you excited?"

Aria bounced between me and diya earning a scowl from the latter .

"for what?" I pretend to not know.

"come on. You know today is the day they are announcing the results for the first round of that challenge- Lit For Life."

"I don't know. I wrote an historical fan-fiction. They would probably get bored after reading two pages."

I said stating the obvious.

"historical fan-fiction?" diya asked me raising an eyebrow.

"yeah you know of battles and palaces." Aria explained waving an imaginary smoke away.

I sighed.

"It was a category. I just simply submitted the one that I wrote as an fan-fiction for that anime years back"

"anime? You mean that we watched two years back? Hakuoki?" diya asked incredulously.

"yeah. It was the heat of the moment. I wrote it to pass time and saved it in my laptop. I made some changes that's all."

Aria whistled.

"I don't know how you get patience for sitting and writing for hours."

"Being friends with you gives her plenty of practice for keeping patience." Diya muttered smirking while Aria's face flushed.

"hey! That's not true! Is it?" she asked turning to me.

"no comments." I mused as Aria staggered and Diya snickered.

Thirty minutes later, we reached the gigantic gates of our university .

Upon entering the corridor, aria made a beeline to the notice board dragging me with her.

"the announcement's in the evening. Man, this day's going to be a total waste" Aria sighed as she read the date and venue.

We made a quick escape when the first bell rang announcing the official start of the day.


	3. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

The day flew by faster and soon it was time to pack up. There was a routine for us. After our classes we split up to go to our different extra curricular activities. Aria had kick-boxing, Diya had archery and I had kendo. I had been doing kendo since I was 10 years old. Weird right?. Well frankly, I had an obligation since my grand father insisted. But it turned out that I had some kind of natural talent(what?) in it so I started learning it with interest. I had kendo five days a week and other two days(week ends) I worked in a library as an assistant librarian for experience.

After my kendo I was to meet the other two at the 'grand stands' where the announcements were going to be held at 7.30 pm. I walked slowly to the nearest bus stop to catch a direct bus to the venue. The area near my kendo class was deserted and I walked to the bus stop after getting special permission from my instructor. I always preferred to walk the entire way from my university to kendo and kendo to home as helped me maintain stamina. But unfortunately, the venue was in the opposite direction that I was totally unfamiliar with and I grudgingly made my way towards the bus stop.

The bus came ten minutes later and I slumped in my seat. The venue had no bus stop and so I had to locate the venue from the nearest stop.

After a few minutes of pointless walking, I stretched my legs and glanced around the unfamiliar area. It was quiet. Not a soul was there .

Frustrated, I pulled out my phone to dial aria. But no one picked it up. So with only other option, I started walking. i didn't know how long I had walked until I came near a bus stop. Confused, I scanned the area and let out a relieved sigh when I saw a shop. It was located in front of a farm house that seem to stand within a large fenced area. The shop was a hardware store, selling machineries and repair products. I entered and knocked on the wide door, but no one answered, so I continued to proceed inside.

I jumped when I felt a presence and whirled around, my instincts kicking in. I shifted my posture into a defensive stance and narrowed my eyes at the person standing in front of me.

the person laughed at me and raised his two hands in surrender showing me that he is harmless. I relaxed from my stance after a few seconds and exhaled the breath that I was holding.

"my, my you are quite alert Young lady. Your stance was steady and professional as if you had waged many wars."

The man who was probably in his late forties with sturdy body and black hair with beard chuckled.

"you just crept up to me from nowhere. I might have even clocked you." I sighed exasperated.

I tensed up when I saw him scrutinizing me with his black eyes. He emitted an friendly aura and his eyes twinkled with excitement and amusement.

"ah! Welcome to my shop. I'm jenkin and how may I help you young lady?" he chuckled noticing my tensed body.

"sorry . I'm kind of lost. I wanted directions" I bowed and straightened when I heard him chuckling.

"it's my pleasure to help a kind and pretty lady such as yours. Now, where are you going?"

"grand stands"

"ah! You are quite near but in the opposite direction. Did you see that bus stop? There will be a bus in twenty minutes that will take you directly to the venue."

"thank you so much for your help. I will be going now."

"ah well, there is twenty minutes spare for you, why don't you look around here?"

Frankly, I wanted to explore this shop.

"thank you if that's okay with you."

"nonsense. Even if you are not going to buy anything, you are still my customer. Feel free to explore the shop."

And so I started my exploration. I was astonished when I saw that it was not only an hardware shop, but did transportation of goods too. There were several boxes some opened and some unopened. I looked through the different goods and bought a set of pen-drives.

I turned around to leave only to dash face first on a stack of dusty boxes and due to the force of the hit, they tumbled down.

"ow" I muttered rubbing the sore spot on my forehead.

I panicked when I saw the boxes scattered around me.

"I'm sorry. So sorry. Did I break anything?" I flushed due to embarrassment.

But jenkin just laughed and helped me up.

"those are not very important. Come on. Are you hurt?"

"no. I'm fine. Are you sure?"

I stopped short when I saw the nearest box that had opened when it collided onto the floor.

It was a laptop with a sleek built and silver surface. It was cute looking and had an weird logo. It was wrapped in a plastic sheet and wedged within foam blocks to prevent breaking.

Jenkin followed my line of slight and picked up the box.

"you can have it if you want it. But I don't know if it works properly."

"it looks expensive. I don't know if I can afford it now." I replied sheepishly.

"I'm giving it for free."

I gaped at him for a whole minute before regaining my composure.

"no. you can't possibly-"

"there is no use for me with it. There is no gain in it to consider a loss. So just take it. And it will be only fair for its beauty when another beauty uses it." He winked at me as I blushed.

"you are generous. It makes me feel bad."

"don't be. I'm giving it to you only if you promise me that you will drop by another time for tea with my wife."

I beamed and accepted the now packed laptop from him.

"thank you and I will promise to visit you and your wife." I bowed.

He nodded and I had only enough time to run across the shop to the stop to the approaching bus.

if she had turned around she would have noticed the shop keeper's smile turning into a frown.

"man, you are late. They started the announcement already." aria whined as the three of us made our way pushing the crowd of professors and bespectacled students.

I was still on cloud nine from the incident before and I had tucked the laptop into my bag discarding the box and foam.

"hey you have a weird expression on your face." Diya shook me from my day dreaming.

"no. the crowd's suffocating. That's all"

To be frank, I had mixed emotions running through me. I was excited, that's true but also had second thoughts on accepting that laptop. Guilt maybe?.

My instincts were warning me and I could feel my legs starting to turn jelly. Due to excitement?. Maybe?

After a few minutes of unwanted hassle we reached the booth that had our university logo.

A flat screen displayed the selected persons in each category and aria searched through the long list that was scrolling in the screen. The feeling came again as we waited. Suddenly a scream alerted me to my senses and saw aria pointing something at the screen. And clearly, in the historical fan-fiction category was only one name. a familiar name. my name.

I gaped at the screen as aria shook me congratulating my success. I gulped the lump that had formed in my throat. This was not the reaction I was expecting.

Everything went by a blur after that, I received a cash prize and the instructions for the next round.

I must be happy, excited or thrilled. But strangely I felt foreboding that somehow everything was going to go downhill from now.

The laptop. The selection. It was too much to be dismissed as a coincidence.

Then, what? How much ever I tried to dismissed it, there was something nagging inside me.

Whatever it was I was going to find out soon and settle it. Everything was going to be fine.

Or was it?


	4. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

The days were busy after that day. I had put that laptop in my closet along with my other things and completely forgot about its existence after a few days.

The excitement of winning the first round caught up with me and I started working on my novel for the second round. With my classes, kendo and library work, I barely had time to sit and construct a decent story. Aria encouraged me to take some time by taking my set of chores or sitting with me until I finish a decent amount of chapters.

Winter vacation was not far and I was thankful for that. I would get plenty of time when classes are closed and so I had stalled my writing and concentrated on other works.

Well, being a writer has it's disadvantages too right?. My disadvantage was that I tend to get inspiration out of blue. It was becoming troublesome though since I somehow manage to forget most of it. So by the solution given by Diya, I had copied my story in a USB and carried my own laptop everywhere.

But, fate as I call it really liked to play with me.

"it's so cold! I can't imagine how it's going to be when snow finally sets in." diya grumbled beside me as the three of us made our way towards home after our classes.

Winter was finally setting in and our breath came out in white puffs.

Aria who was walking in front of us stopped suddenly and I plummeted straight into her.

"hey! Wha-" I started to protest only to stop short. I saw her expression of unmasked annoyance and dread as I followed her line of sight.

A bunch of kids were standing near a pond that had frozen. The ice was thin and it was glistening under the lights. A kid had somehow walked onto it and now stood there without noticing the danger.

The ice was cracking.

Aria quickly dashed towards them yelling the kid to stop moving.

Exchanging a quick glance with diya, we too quickly caught up with her.

"don't move! Just stay there! " aria instructed the kid who stood frozen with horror realizing his mistake.

Diya quickly vacated the other kids from there and stood a little away watching us. Aria quickly untied the nylon ropes that were used to tie the decorating lights along the fence surrounding the pond.

She nodded at me and quickly tied it around my waist tightly and securely. Aria tied the other end to the nearby fence and took hold of the rope giving me a go signal. We both had life guard licenses and we exactly know what to do while facing situations like these.

I quickly scanned the thickness and frowned when I found it was impossible for me to even step on it.

I shook my head at aria who hesitated a second.

"we don't have a choice. Just go" she nodded at me.

I turned towards the kid who was shaking in terror.

"hey! It's going to be okay. Just think this as a game. Come on. Take gentle steps towards me. what's your name?" I asked him to distract from the situation.

"mi..mike." he took trembling step towards me.

"good! That's it. Now, what is your favourite food?"

Another step. The ice cracked almost instantly and his eyes widened, tears gliding freely.

"don't stop. Come on." I urged him .

But, he did the most foolish thing to do. He ran towards me in panic.

"shit!" I heard aria curse loudly as the ice cracked in pressure. So I did what I had to do. He was almost near and I launched myself towards him and managed to wrap myself protectively around him even as we plunged into the freezing water.

The pressure point was high inside the cold water that made swimming difficult. Abruptly we were yanked back onto the surface and were dragged back to the shore. Aria had the rope firmly in her hands, pulling us towards the shore.

The kid remained latched onto me and was shaking.

He sputtered and gasped the water as I sighed in relief.

Too late I realized something heavy behind me and choked when I saw my very drenched bag.

"oh shit!" I quickly unhooked my bag and stared in horror as the contents spilled from it- my phone, books, wallet, and **my laptop.**

"I'm so dumb." I muttered sadly as I gathered them again in my bag.

Aria and diya joined me after sending the kids back safely and I could clearly see that they were holding their mirth for the sake of my sanity.


	5. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

Well, after that the days went by a blur with me mourning over my deceased loyal laptop as it had served me for more than 5 years.

I had called it quits but somehow I forgot about the other laptop sleeping in my closet. I remembered only after diya found it in my closet while borrowing my cosmetics.

Then, rest is history. Aria eventually pestered me to write something and I somewhat grudgingly agreed. Only because I had nothing else to do due to this winter and only because I decided to have some fun.

But I totally regret that now.

I had an idea when I saw diya watching hakuoki in her laptop. She was a crazy fangirl of the guys in that anime especially okita souji. I was a fan too but not as crazy as her. So I took her as an inspiration to use the guys and us in a story. I remembered those days when diya and myself sat hours together drooling and fangirling seeing the hot guys. I had a loyal crush on saito hajime back then. Well, who doesn't?.

Well, it was her who gave me the idea for the story and I merely constructed it further.

I realized something amiss when I first heard about the mysterious murders . I dismissed it as common crime, but I was too dumb or maybe too stupid to ignore when the murders occurred a block away from the library.

Fate is too cruel and I wanted to praise myself for my athletic skills atleast. Because that was the only thing that is delaying my immediate death.

Maybe if I lived to see the daylight, I could consider taking athletics in my university.

 **Whew! Finally! Things gonna pick up pace from next chapter. I guess there were loopholes and incomplete situations. Don't worry all will be revealed once the actual story picks up pace. So thank you for reading and supporting this fanfic**

 **I would like to thank you all for the extended support and friendship. Thank you all readers and forgive my mistakes.**


	6. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

 **NAGIRA'S POV:**

"five minutes until closing time" I announced as I made my way from the podium towards the reading section where people had started to pack up their things and started to move.

I quietly watched as the last person exited the large room before locking the large double doors that led to the exit. It was the middle of winter vacation and the head librarian had left with her family to their native for chirstmas. The arrival of winter means not only snow and chillness but also holidays and it basically leads to loads of homework and projects. So the library became the natural saviour and desired place for effective research than internet in this snowy and unpredictable weather. When the librarian escaped knowing this all too well, I was only left to sigh in exasperation after knowing this well planned scheme of the cunning lady in charge.

Now that everyone have left, the humongous library seemed like an lurking trap of doom in all of its emptiness of souls except mine which was now seemingly disturbed by the unknown sense of uncomfortableness . the darkness and emptiness seemed to alert me of something that I purposely ignored and hurried at my task of shelving the books.

It felt like an eternity as I finished shelving the last batches of books in the research section where it took me more time than the other sections. I took a last look to confirm my perfection in maintaining and managing before turning off the lights, after all I love perfection. When I turned to head back, the same unknown feeling rose from the bottom of my stomach before settling as a lump in my throat. I gulped reassuring myself before making my way towards my cabin.

 **8.30pm.**

I shook my hair out of my ponytail before picking up my pace towards home. I was late and it was well past my curfew. There were frequent murders going around this town and diya, the worrying mother-hen she is and basically a strict officer when it comes to our protection and well-being, had declared a curfew for me and aria and **aria** specially. We had to switch on our GPS in our mobiles after leaving home to our individual work and be at home before 7.00 pm.

Eventhough diya knows me well, I should have informed her before to atleast soothe her poor worrying self. I think it must be safe to assume her basically ticking time bomb self considers to atleast hear pleas when it comes to me.

I mentally facepalmed when I took out my mobile. The screen lighted merely a second before becoming dark again. Dead. Yes, both my phone and my poor self. I could only sigh at my luck before picking up my pace.

But as I turned another street, my heart beat picked up its pace seeing the seemingly empty and dark alley ahead. The street lights glowed a golden yellow that gave the alleyway the impression of that of a horror movie setting. I kept my pace at a considerable speed that was between jogging and running yet observed my surroundings when I passed through other dark alleys. I froze a second when I saw a distinct figure walking opposite towards me. It was a guy with black tee and jeans who walked quite unsteady. I flinched when I saw his choice of clothing in this weather but willed my legs to continue. The guy didn't seem perturbed by my presence and kept going passing me. I reflexively lowered my gaze watching my shadow slant when I passed under a street light ignoring the other guy who just walked past me.

I heaved a sigh as I focused forward again feeling somewhat relieved. But abruptly something dawned upon me and I froze yet again on the spot. Shadow. My eyes widened in disbelief as I heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps _that had stopped_ when I did.

My heart stopped a second. I slowly turned towards him and saw him facing me. like a predator he moved his teeth bared and unnaturally red eyes gleaming with madness. His muscles bulged and inflated against his contour his tee sticking to it. When he stepped again under the light that I had previously passed, It confirmed my earlier suspicion and dread.

 ** _He did not have a shadow._**

I was frozen completely and my legs felt like they were made of lead as I stood there like an idiot. _The murders._

A voice echoed within me successfully kicking my brain into gear as I gasped at the realisation.

If I stand there any second longer, I am sure to end up just like the bodies that I saw earlier in the headlines and my kendo skills looked completely useless seeing the sheer size of this…. Creature.

That finally shook me out of my reverie and I quickly turned and dashed practically flying as adrenaline pumped within.

I can appreciate my athletic skills atleast. Because, the creature was unnaturally fast, but I was able to put a good distance between the maniac and myself. I was so concentrated in praising my running skills, I didn't realize where I was going. Which was a **huge mistake.**

I stopped myself panting and breathless before I could smash onto the wall in front of me. _dead end._

I turned around looking for a way to escape. My adrenaline was still pumping and alarm bells ringing, warning of the danger now stalking towards me.

It was a nightmare. I was sure of it. But no. feeling the goosebumps and the sound of my own harsh breath, I know it is not a dream. I was stuck. But I'm not willing to surrender the terror and panic rising inside me. I was always good at masking my emotions. But now, more than one emotion was surging inside me fuelling the burning terror further. Helplessness, tiredness, exhaustion, fear, panic,confusion…disbelief.

I walked backwards until I felt my back pressed on the wall, my eyes fixed on the figure before me.

With a victorious growl it launced itself towards me.

I closed my eyes as reflex and waited for the impact.

 **Yasss! Finally! enjoy the new chapter!**


	7. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER-6**

After two years, now is the only time I thought myself unlucky. It's not like this is the first time I am staring at death and I have a feeling that this would not be the last. Well, I'm unlucky because I seemed to be a magnet for death. Now literally as I'm staring at death I could confirm it.

My heart raced when I saw the monster advancing towards me, but stopped inches from me.

It took me a few more seconds to process the sticky liquid that had sprayed on me staining my clothes and face.

I instinctively moved as the creature lurched forward so that it crashed face- first onto the wall on which I was leaning before and tumbled to the floor.

The blood was pooling around him from the gaping hole.i touched the blood that had sprayed on me. my hands shook as it came smudged with blood .gasping, I tried to breathe but ended up choking.

The dark liquid reminded me of that dark day, the day that was etched forever still haunting my life.

 _now._

I willed myself to control. But to no avail. My vision started to get blurry as I struggled to concentrate. My head pounded and I my brathing came in short gasps and my legs buckled making me fall to my knees.

But, suddenly I was suddenly filled with warmth that unknown but strangely comfortable. I felt myself calm a little as I fought for control when I heard a distinct voice that I heard clearly through all the pounding and ringing in my ears even though it was barely a murmur. It was like a beacon for me that I forced to hold on to. I was somehow able to will myself to focus myself towards the source.

The azure eyes that was staring at me with such intensity of piercing one's soul held a tenderness and an assurance that slightly surprised me.

I managed to smile at the silent reassurance before letting the darkness engulf me.

 _"_ _I'm sorry nagira for hurting you. But I'm not sorry for the decision I took"_

 _An handsome guy with a messy raven black hair that suited his sculpted face and sky blue eyes that always brimmed with intelligence and mieth- a rare combination that she always admired was now focused on her with sympathy._

 _She stared at him blankly, but her eyes were searching his for truth._

 _"_ _you are hiding something aren't you?"_

 _She managed to ask him._

 _His blue eyes widened in surprise and immediately averted her piercing gaze._

 _A thick silence followed after that, which she broke._

 _She reached to him and clasped his face turning it towards her._

 _"_ _I can see that you are hiding something important that led to this…your decision. Eric I love you and I know you very well. We both know that you are a very bad liar."_

 _She held his face and saw the swirl of emotions in his eyes._

 _he suddenly grabbed her hands that was golding his face and peeled it away from him. He took a large step back, putting a distance between them._

 _"_ _I'm engaged" his voice was firm and he met her startled gaze with his steely ones._

 _"_ _my family is merging the business with her's through this engagement. We are expanding. We will be moving abroad as the respective owners of our companies and once we settle all financial issues and after few years, we are going to get married."_

 _She was completely shocked and speechless. She had the same blank stare but the lone tear that fell from her right eye betrayed her inner turmoil._

 _"_ _you love her" it wasn't a question but a statement._

 _"_ _we were childhood friends. But grew apart due to some reasons. Recently I met her. She has become very talented and beautiful too. Yes, I fell in love with her."_

 _She stared her widened eyes tearing up._

 _"_ _I -I ….you-" ahe stammered._

 _"_ _I have my own dreams nagira. I want to explore . she made me realise how important my dreams are . With her I'm going to reach new heights. I'm growing. And she is helping me to achieve my dreams being beside me. our engagement was more of our decision than our family's"_

 _She literally broke. Her heart shattered in a million shards that stabbed her soul mercilessly. Tears now flowed freely that she wiped away furiously. Yet more came._

 _He casually turned to walk away but stopped when he heard her suppressed sniffle._

 _"_ _you need to know to fight your own battles. I have my own dreams and struggles unlike you. You can have many friends and relatives but at the end you are always left alone."_

 _Her head snapped back at him hearing those words. Her blood boiled. He made to leave but her voice stopped him. She quickly made her way towards him and stood face to face._

 _"_ _you are probably right. I think you showed me the real truth. Thanks for saving me and congratulations for your new life"_

 _Her words were full of suppressed distain and angerand she stormed away leaving a very startled eric behind._

 _Days turned to weeks but she was yet to recover from her previous ordeal. her mood only seemed to only worsen and she showed her foul mood to those unlucky ones who were brave enough to test her._

 _That day too, she turned her anger towards her mom and stormed away from home to cool off._

 _She was sitting idly on a park compound wall until it was well past 8.00 she heard her father calling out to her and she practically skipped her way towards her her previous mood vanished._

 _She loved her father very much._

 _"_ _I'm sorry dad. Sorry mom."_

 _She had been talking with her father and eventually had told him everything. During the conversation her very worried mom had come searching for her._

 _Both of them turned towards her and smiled._

 _"_ _it's okay dear. You already apologized. We were only worried about you." her mother's soft voice mad her smile._

 _"_ _yeah kid. In fact we are proud of you. And we will always be. Just don't let things like this bother your attitude."_

 _Her father gave her a wink and interlaced his fingers with her mom._

 _She gave them a bright smile and nodded._

 _"_ _let's go" they turned and walked towards their car their joined hands between them._

 _She made to follow them but stumbled slightly as her toe caught a stone._

 _"_ _are you okay?" her worried mother's voice made her look up to see them stop and turn towards her._

 _She straightened up and walked briskly towards them._

 _"_ _yeah. I 'm-"_

 _But her voice trailed off as it was filled with another noise. Everything happened within seconds and so fast that she was just standing there frozen._

 _A scene replayed in slow motion before her eyes._

 _A deafening horn and a truck crashing onto her parents who had stopped in middle of the street._

 _She slowly turned towards the truck that had stopped and the a thick trail of red liquid dyed the road._

 _She looked down at herself in horror, feeling the wet sticky liquid seeping into her clothes._

 _Blood. It was her parent's blood._


	8. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

 **Earlier… 7.30pm**

"I'm home!" aria called out into the seemingly empty home.

Her ears perked up at the slight noise of television from the living room and she made her way towards it.

There, diya was standing just outside the kitchen her eyes glued to the television, face a little pale.

Aria, with a sly smirk approached her from behind and tapped on the shoulder.

"yahhh!" diya jumped a foot in air screaming.

Aria expected that much. What she didn't expect was the butter knife that was aimed for her heart.

Aria quickly grapped her wrist and twisted so that it clattered to the floor and pushed diya as she blocked the right hook from her.

"diya! Snap out of it!"

"aria?" the brown haired female quickly regained her composure and helped aria straighten.

"seriously? Man. You need to loosen a bit."

Aria clapped diya on her shoulders earning a glare from the latter.

"so. What got you so worked up?"

As a response diya nodded lightly towards the tv screen. The evening headlines were being shown with a news reporter talking animatedly from a background of police sirens and ambulances.

"another murder?" aria asked with a frown.

"yes. Three within this week. And it's getting closer to our locality." Diya sighed disapperaring into the kitchen.

Aria did not take her eyes off her screen as she took in the news of the string of murders occurring near their locality.

Finally she switched it off and made her way towards her room.

She passed nagira's room and stopped short when she saw it slightly ajar.

"nagira?" she softly called thought that her quiet friend had already come home.

Not hearing an answer, she pushed the door wide and stepped in. her rrom was slightly bigger than the other two, because of all the stuff she was keeping.

Nagira always loved perfection and neatness and her room resembled a mini library with the shelves of books.

Though with all the stuff she had in her room, it was neat and perfect.

As she turned to leave, something caught her eye. A sleek, slivery surfaced laptop sat on the desk next to her writing supplies plugged to the charger.

It was kept open and when she touched a button, the window opened to show the recently half-typed document.

It was nagira's story for the competition.

With a slight smirk, she seated herself before the laptop and scrolled to the storyline.

After skimming the pages, she returned to the half-typed passage. Her fingertips rested on the keys as she read the first few lines.

 _It was a cold night. The winter had finally set in covering the outside world with blankets of snow._

 _She trudged slowly her boots leaving prints on the white snow. Her breath came out in smoke puffs and her hands were tucked inside the pockets of her jacket._

 _The black-haired female looked up at the familiar light pole and frowned. She mentally faceplamed at her carelessness._

 _She quickly turned but stopped suddenly as the realization hit her like ton of bricks._

 _The familiar light pole. Her carelessness. The lone winter night._

 _Her eyes widened at the realization._

 _It was familiar. Because she already had been there._

 _The dream. The sequence from her dream._

aria's eyes glimmered as she formed her thoughts. And started to type.

 _…_ _it was a dream. Just a dream. She must have dismissed it as such._

 _But after the recent events, her mind refused to believe that logic. She quickly tried to recollect that dream. But everything was jumbled like a puzzle and she tried to desperately to recollect._

 _The light pole. The light pole! Then?_

 _She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't even realize another person coming behind her._

 _A deep growl resonated through her as her senses snapped back._

 _Then it hit her. She didn't even try to turn. All her senses were screaming to do the one reasonable thing._

 _She ran._

 _Her heart pounding, head reeling, legs aching, she ran._

 _She didn't have to turn to know that the thing was chasing her._

 _Because she remembered. She finally remembered what happened._

 _And so ran. Ran that she could…/_

"are you serious?!"

A shrill scream brought aria out of her reverie.

She quickly bolted out and saw diya glaring at her mobile.

"what happened?"

"what happened? What should happen more? Nagira happened" diya all but shouted.

"calm down. My ears are bleeding"

"calm? How can I be? See the time. It's past the curfew and nagira's mobile is switched off!"

Aria's heart quickened but she managed to keep calm. Externally that is.

"must be work. And her mobile must be dead or something."

"I told her especially to inform me before if it gets too late. I expected it from you not from her." Diya gave out a frustrated sigh rubbing her forehead.

"ouch. You sound like hijikata from that anime you watch. Ms. worry –wart"

Aria chuckled by the pissed off look diya was having.

"let's see for another half an hour. Knowing nagira, she must have a good reason." Diya let out a frustrated sigh and stomped towards her bedroom fuming.

Aria was worried too. But she knew that whatever situation nagira is facing must be tough or important for her to actually neglect diya's advice.

Aria sighed and walked back to nagira's room.

The story she was typing remained unfinished. But she was in mood to continue.

Even though she reassured diya, she felt troubling inside too. She felt the panic rising inside her suddenly remembering **that day**.

She shook her head to clear off successfully discarding the thoughts that rose in her mind.

Turning back to the screen, she decided to finish that line.

 _And so ran. Ran that she could…_

 _Survive._

She closed the document and leaned away from the laptop.

 _Do you want to save changes?_

 _yes discard changes_

…

 _Document saved._

 ** _CHAPTER 1: IT BEGAN._**


	9. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

 _Fire. All I could see was burning flames surrounding me._

 _Where was I? what is this place?._

 _Then I saw. Shielding my eyes from the smoke and ashes, I could see shadows of two figures._

 _Who were they? May be I could-_

 _I tripped and fell flat on my face. That hurt!._

 _Rubbing my nose, I turned to glare that offending thing that caused my nose to flatten, only to stop and stare. My eyes widened at the headless corpse I tripped on. I covered my mouth and stumbled back as far away as possible._

 _But barely moving a few feet away from that horrific sight, my path was restricted by another corpse. It was also headless._

 _Slowly realisation dawned upon me as I turned my terrified gaze to peer at my surroundings. My hands trembled and eyes widened at the mass of headless corpses littered around in a vast field and most were burning away, engulfed in the angry flames._

 _In the middle of the inferno, my gaze landed on the figure standing tall and proud, another headless corpse lying near its feet._

 _The black mane fluttered in the heat blaze as it reflected the flames around. A bloodied , long and ancient sword was held, its blade tip resting lightly on the ground as if resting after years of long battle._

 _My heart raced and breath quickened when the figure slowly turned around._

 _Time stopped and everything seemed to slow down as my blue gaze locked to the familiar blue ones._

 _No. this wasn't happening._

 _I was staring at_ _ **myself.**_

 _An older , bloodied and cruel version of me._

 _It was as if I was staring at my evil twin. My breath came out in shallow gasps as I felt my knees buckle from under me._

 _I felt the events to come to an abrupt stop as the ground beneath me opened and pulled me inside the unknown void of darkness._

-ira!"

I fluttered my eyes open and immediately regretted it as strong light blinded my senses and I felt a sharp pain shooting across my eyes.

"nagira! what the hell babe? when did you return?"

Huh? What was she talking about? Aria?

My mind felt foggy and It took me some time to register my surroundings. When I finally did, I shot upright in my bed so fast that it startled aria momentarily.

"whoa there! Calm down!". Aria placed her hands on my shoulders and I felt my heart rate slow down.

"what's wrong? What's going on?

"hello? That's supposed to be my question. You tell me. where on earth did go last night? When did you return?"

"last night?" I mumbled.

Last night?. I was returning from library and my phone became dead. Then? Then what?.

Everything went blank after the event of my phone screen turning black. I nervously searched through my memory but failed miserably. I pushed down the rising panic inside me as I surveyed my room to find anything that would give some clue about the events later that night.

My gaze landed on my bedside clock and I frowned at it.

 **5.00 am.**

I turned my gaze back on aria and took in her appearance.

She wore her outdoor clothes and her jacket over it, her hair tangled and stuck out at odd angles as if she had been running in cold air, eyes tired and bloodshot.

"…"

"…"

"did you go out drinking last night? You snuck in didn't you?"

Her jaw-dropped as she fell over comically seeing my deadpan expression.

"I had a severe headache and my phone was dead last night. I can't clearly recall due to that headache and I think I came in late. That's it."

I smoothly lied as aria sat up from where she had fallen on the floor.

A slow tired smile spread on her lips and she flopped back down on the floor.

I got down from the bed and nudged her with my foot.

"where were you? U look drained."

"I was out… looking for you." She sighed tiredly as she sluggishly got off from the floor.

I raised an eyebrow.

"alone? Aren't you supposed to be dead by now?"

She grinned at me and sassed lightly by flicking her hair from her shoulders.

She waved her hands towards the living room. Curiosity won me as I peered down below to see diya curled in couch, an empty glass rolling near where her hand was hanging down from the arm rest.

"lo and behold! The tamed wild beast !"

aria announced loudly as I rolled my eyes at her antics.

"what did you give her?"

She held up a bottle. It had label 'wild beast' written on it.

"girl was extra jumpy yesterday. She nearly killed me. when I say kill, I mean literally. That too with a butter knife. When you didn't answer her calls, lioness started roaring my head off."

She sighed tiredly and plonked down onto the nearby couch and she too curled up.

Oops! I'm going to have hell when diya wakes up.

"sorry for worrying you guys. I should have known before."

"get over it girl! Everyone's okay. But I highly doubt it when that sleeping lioness wakes up."

She winked at me and I smile at her for the effort to cheer up.

"and, I wasn't alone. I had help."

Huh? Now I was curious.

Aria might have caught up with my thoughts as she grinned at me. I blinked when I spotted a faint blush on her cheeks.

" after putting diya to sleep, I went searching for you. After few hours I ran into some guys. Man! They were all hot!. Especially a tall guy with dark red hair. Him and his two friends helped me search. Only a little after dawn he told me to check if you had returned home. That's when I rushed home and saw you sleeping."

I watched her as she had a faraway look in her eyes and her blush seemed to deepen.

I smiled to myself when I noticed the familiar look on her face.

My smile faltered as soon as it came. Even though I had reassured aria that nothing was wrong, I knew it was far from truth. It was still a mystery that how I could not remember anything after the events of the blank phone.

"I wish I could meet him again! And oh1 I almost forgot he told me to call him if I found you. And by the way his name was sa-"

I had blocked out rest of aria's talking as my eyes lingered on the little red liquid stuck on the inner side of the glass that was rolling on the carpet.

Something is not right somewhere.

And I intend to find out what.


End file.
